93 Decision Citation: BVA 93-07738
Y93
BOARD OF VETERANS' APPEALS
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20420
DOCKET NO. 92-05-427 ) DATE
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THE ISSUE
Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss
and tinnitus.
REPRESENTATION
Appellant represented by: Disabled American Veterans
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD
Michele M. Florack, Associate Counsel
INTRODUCTION
This matter came before the Board of Veterans' Appeals
(Board) on appeal from a June 1991 rating decision from the
North Little Rock, Arkansas Regional Office (RO). The
appellant served on active duty from January 1951 to December
1954. A notice of disagreement was received in January 1992.
The statement of the case was issued in February 1992. The
substantive appeal was received in February 1992. The appeal
was received and docketed at the Board in April 1992. The
claims file was then referred to the veteran's accredited
representative, the Disabled American Veterans, which
submitted additional written argument to the Board in June
1992. The case is now ready for appellate review.
CONTENTIONS ON APPEAL
The veteran maintains that his hearing loss and tinnitus are
due to acoustic trauma from the constant exposure to noise
he experienced in the Navy, and therefore should be service
connected.
DECISION OF THE BOARD
In accordance with the provisions of 38 U.S.C.A. § 7104
(West 1991), following review and consideration of all
evidence and material of record in the veteran's claims
file, and for the following reasons and bases, it is the
decision of the Board that the preponderance of the evidence
is against the veteran's claims for service connection for
hearing loss and tinnitus.
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. All relevant evidence necessary for an equitable
disposition of the appeal has been obtained by the RO.
2. Bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus were not manifested
in service; sensorineural hearing loss was not manifested
within one year following the veteran's discharge from
active duty; and any current hearing loss or tinnitus is not
shown to be related to service or any incident therein.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
Bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus were not incurred in or
aggravated by service, nor may sensorineural hearing loss be
presumed to have been incurred in service. 38 U.S.C.A.
§§ 1101, 1110, 1112, 1113, 5107 (West 1991); 38 C.F.R.
§§ 3.307, 3.309 (1992).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION
The veteran's claim is well grounded within the meaning of
38 U.S.C.A. §5107(a); that is, his claim is plausible or
capable of substantiation. The Department of Veteran's
Affairs (VA) therefore has a duty to assist the veteran in
the development of facts pertinent to his claim. 38 U.S.C.A.
§ 5107(a). In this case, the VA has fulfilled its duty in
that all pertinent medical records were obtained and
reviewed in reference to his claim.
The veteran asserts that service connection for hearing loss
and tinnitus is warranted and he has alleged the etiology of
this disorder to be in-service acoustic trauma. Service
connection may be granted for disability resulting from
disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by wartime
service. 38 U.S.C.A. § 1110. In addition, service
connection may be granted for hearing loss where a veteran
served ninety (90) days or more during a period of war and
sensorineural hearing loss becomes manifest to a degree of
10 percent within one year from date of termination of such
service, even though there is no evidence of such disease
during the period of service. This presumption is rebuttable
by affirmative evidence to the contrary. 38 U.S.C.A.
§§ 1101, 1112, 1113 (West 1991); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309
(1992).
The veteran stated that he was stationed aboard the U.S.S.
L.S.M.R 405 as a third-class engine man for approximately
one year and was also exposed to acoustic trauma standing by
while a ship's gun was fired.
The veteran's service medical records show no complaints or
clinical findings with respect to loss of hearing or
tinnitus. When the veteran's hearing acuity was tested
during his separation examination in December 1954, his
hearing was 15/15, bilaterally.
Following the veteran's separation from service, not until a
VA examination in September 1990 was any kind of hearing
loss or tinnitus documented. A bilateral high frequency
sensorineural hearing loss was demonstrated. When the
veteran was examined by the VA, he indicated he had been
employed as a sheet metal worker, an occupation which
presumably involves noise exposure. A review of pertinent
literature, 2 Cecil Textbook of Medicine 2117-20 (18th ed.
1988), leads us to the conclusion that in the absence of
some continuity of hearing loss symptoms during the long
intervening period between service and the documentation of
a hearing loss in 1990, there is no basis for attributing
the hearing loss with associated tinnitus to noise exposure
in service rather than to the many possible intervening
causes of sensorineural hearing loss, including post-service
acoustic trauma and the aging process.
In light of the above discussion, the Board finds insuffi-
cient bases to relate the bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus
to service. Thus, the preponderance of the evidence is
against finding a connection between service and the
veteran's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus.
ORDER
Service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus is
denied.
BOARD OF VETERANS' APPEALS
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20420
*
GEORGE R. SENYK
BRUCE E. HYMAN
(CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)
*38 U.S.C.A. § 7102(a)(2)(A) (West 1991) permits a Board of
Veterans' Appeals Section, upon direction of the Chairman of
the Board, to proceed with the transaction of business
without awaiting assignment of an additional Member to the
Section when the Section is composed of fewer than three
Members due to absence of a Member, vacancy on the Board or
inability of the Member assigned to the Section to serve on
the panel. The Chairman has directed that the Section
proceed with the transaction of business, including the
issuance of decisions, without awaiting the assignment of a
third Member.
NOTICE OF APPELLATE RIGHTS: Under 38 U.S.C.A. 7266 (West
1991), a decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals granting
less than the complete benefit, or benefits, sought on
appeal is appealable to the United States Court of Veterans
Appeals within 120 days from the date of mailing of notice
of the decision, provided that a Notice of Disagreement
concerning an issue which was before the Board was filed
with the agency of original jurisdiction on or after
November 18, 1988 (see Sec. 402 of the Veterans' Judicial
Review Act (Pub. L. 100-687)). The date which appears on
the face of this decision constitutes the date of mailing
and the copy of this decision which you have received is
your notice of the action taken on your appeal by the Board
of Veterans' Appeals.